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Sewage release to Fanno Creek tributary in southwest Portland

Sanitary Sewage Release Advisory

(this is not a combined sewer overflow [CSO] advisory)

April 4, 2016

Maintenance crews are working to stop a sewage release to a small tributary of Fanno Creek. Field crews investigating odor complaints today discovered sewage flowing from broken pipe into the unnamed tributary.

Crews discovered the sewage release near the intersection of SW Carolina Street and SW 32nd Avenue.

Maintenance crews are unable to estimate how much sewage has been released or how long it will take to make repairs and stop the release. The City of Portland treats an average of 70 million gallons of wastewater each day.

The tributary flows into Fanno Creek near SW 30th and Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway, about four blocks from the point of the sewage release. The public should avoid contact with Fanno Creek in that area until the leak is repaired.

Over one-third of Portland’s more than 2,500 miles of sewer pipes are over 80 years old. Pipes that fail or become blocked with grease, tree roots and debris can cause sewage overflows. The sewage release discovered today is not related to Portland’s combined sewer overflow control system.

The Bureau of Environmental Services provides city residents with programs to protect water quality and public health, including wastewater collection and treatment, sewer construction and maintenance, stormwater management, and stream and watershed restoration.